Tag: be discerning

Posted on

Discernment

Prov 25-26 Similitudes and Instructions

A similitude is a comparison of one thing to another. Solomon’s words in these two chapters are collected into these two categories using the word “like.” Example: “Like apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a word skillfully spoken.” [25:11] Solomon is comparing the beauty of gold and silver to how we respond to another. The point is words spoken at the right time in the right way can be accepted as the view of fruit sitting perfectly aligned on a platter. How fitting are our words to the hearing ear is the point?

Again, vs. 12, “like an earring of gold and an ornament of find gold, so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens.” We know from 2Tim 3:16 that one of the ways God’s word is used is to reprove or to correct that which is in error. How are our words received? How are God’s words received?

Prov 26 is the view of the wise and the fool. You wouldn’t honor a fool, for he does not understand your words. They must be constantly reprimanded, so choose your words carefully and wisely. Remember this advice from Prov 10  “Wisdom is found in the words of the discerning person…”

The point is that we must be discerning in our words and honoring people. Carefully see what the Spirit is teaching you through these comparisons. Make a list if you desire, and check yourself throughout the day.

Posted on

John Speaks …Listen to him

be discerning

1 Jn 1-2 Lies vs. Truth

Having just returned from Ephesus, I see myself walking that street that this dear servant walked so long ago. It is as if I can hear him speaking these words to the saints of old, warning them of the lies of our arch-enemy. He is begging them not to listen but to heed the words of the risen Christ. I wonder if he was recalling the conversation Jesus had with the young ruler about goodness. Jesus reminded him of the enemy’s first lie for us: you are good. Jesus said NO! Only God is good.

We live in a time much like the Apostle John lived with the lies of the enemy swirling around them.

Lie #1 You are not a sinner! But Truth #1 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, [Rom 3:23]

Lie #2 You do not need to keep the commandments! Truth#2 When we keep the commandments, the love of God is seen in us, and we are walking as Christ walked who kept all the commandments!

Lie #3 You don’t have to love the brethren. Truth #3 You DO have to love and shower that love upon the brethren, for that shows how you are forgiven.

Lie #4 You can love the things of the world and the love of the Father. Truth #4 You must choose, and God must be first. You cannot love both.

Lie # 5 You don’t have to say Jesus was the Christ. Truth #5 To deny Him is to deny God. If you acknowledge Jesus as the Son, you also have the Father.

Today may we yearn to abide in the Truth, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. [Jn 14:6] No one can come to the Father if he listens and obeys the enemy’s lies.

Posted on

Be Diligent

God is faithful,

2 Peter 1-3 As Peter sat in a Roman prison, he began to pen these words to the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. He reminded them that God’s divine power had given them all that would be needed to live a righteous life in this world. However, he also was well aware, just as Paul had noted; grievous wolves would seek entrance into their lives to destroy their faith. Thus, they must be observant and discerning. Satan is crafty, so they must act with all diligence to keep their faith strong. Peter emphasized that not just once but three times! Today we see that manifested in the two blatant lies the wolves offer: you are in the wrong body, and to be free, you must kill the unborn. And like sheep led to the slaughter, he captures the hearts and lives of the unsuspecting. Thus Peter warns: make every effort or be diligent! Peter and Paul both emphasize when the truth is ignored or rejected, God will send on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. [2 Thess 2:11]

Prayer for yourself and other believers today: Be diligent or make every effort to add to your faith those character qualities that will keep you close to Him and walking the path of faith.

Posted on

Parenting 101

Parenting 101

Prov 4-7 Parenting Responsibilities

Once a parent, always a parent. It begins before birth and ends only when you, the parent, pass on into eternity. [If you are a grandparent reading this, know that the next generation will also recall your counsel as good or evil.] Just as when Solomon wrote these words long ago, parenting is fraught with the world’s dangers and Satan’s deceptive ways. Therefore, parents must be attentive to the business of teaching discernment [good judgment and insight] and the rewards or consequences of heeding or rejecting a parent’s counsel.

These chapters encourage a parent seeking to raise a child in the way he should go, and Prov 22:6 will repeat that idea. Jesus told the disciples: I am sending you forth into the world, and it is full of wolves. Truth be known, the world has not changed but has gotten progressively worse! Therefore, we must be wise as serpents but also innocent as doves. [Matt 10:16] As the master deceiver, Satan is shrewd and a liar. He is always planning to thwart our children’s way from godliness to ungodliness and for them to reject their parent’s counsel. Therefore, in Prov 4:20-27, he reminds the child that the deceiver knows the way to enter is through the eye, ear, and heart gates. Teach them that they must be on guard, discerning, and make wise choices if they desire God’s blessing.

Pray for parents and grandparents as well for wisdom and discernment. Pray that we have the wisdom to help children to discern both good and evil. [Heb 5:14]Pray we seek wisdom and wise counsel for children because the master deceiver is busier today than ever.

Posted on

How to be discerning

use scripture to discern

Jeremiah 23 “We dare not become lazy and expect others to do our studying and thinking for us.” [B. Deffinbaugh] As we listen to Jeremiah’s words, we hear the newscasts of today, which “demonize what is right and celebrate what is wrong.” Our culture wants God’s love apart from the price paid on the cross.  The people of Judah were uncomfortable with Jeremiah’s words of impending judgment for their sin. Jeremiah’s words fell upon deaf ears and sometimes landed him in stocks or a mud-filled cistern.

Jeremiah gave the people at least six ways to discern false prophets. We can learn from his words.

Observe and listen carefully. Do their words line up with God’s Word? Secondly, observe their lives and ask if they are consistent? Are they honoring God in word and deed? Thirdly, are they presenting false hopes? These countered Jeremiah’s words of judgment with ‘nothing bad will happen to you.’ Fifthly, they were in a hurry to deliver their message. Sixthly they claimed to hear God speaking, but if they had been in God’s inner circle; they would have heard the exact same words of impending Babylonian judgment due to their disobedience.

Fast forward to today. There are sheep in wolves’ clothing amongst us. We must also discern their character. Listen and look; observe their fruits; listen to the doctrine they teach.

Posted on

Lessons from the Gibeonites

Joshua 10 deceitful2aJoshua 9 – 10 Have you ever been duped? To be duped means another has taken advantage of you in some clever way. Take a lesson from Joshua who was deceived or duped by the Gibeonites.

One of the lessons Moses sought to impress upon his servant was to always check with God before stepping out. Joshua is learning this lesson fast and furiously. First, he failed to check with God about Ai, and now he fails to check with God about the Gibeonites. In both circumstances, Joshua failed, but God still used him in His service, and that is something we need to remember. Just because you failed once doesn’t mean God can’t and won’t use you. God uses imperfect people to complete His perfect plan.

God allows tests into our life to check our understanding of His Word. He also allows them to test our faith and obedience to Him. The city of Ai and the tribe of the Gibeonites was Joshua’s test. What is yours?

The Gibeonites were cunning and deceitful, and we will meet those people as we traverse the world. Joshua assumed they had a good motive from all appearances, but they were lying. We can only see through the lies and facades with God’s eyes. Joshua is an example of allowing his own eyes and the pity he felt for the Gibeonites to lead him rather than God’s eyes.

We must be discerning, and the only way we can be is through prayer and scripture and yes, sometimes seeking wise counsel. Joshua failed on all points; how about you?

Posted on

What voice do you listen to ?

You are in a situation where a decision must be made. What do you do? Some say one thing, some say another, whose voice is right?

2chron 10 listen to voice2a

2Chron 10 Voices can be misleading or they can lead to the truth. We are bombarded with voices from the tempter, the world, and the flesh. We must be “discerning regarding truth and error;…and “listen to the voice of the Spirit.” (Heb 5 & 3)

Rehoboam is presented to us as a foolish king who listened not to the Spirit but to two groups of men; the first his father’s former advisors and his boyhood friends.  He chose the latter and as the tale unfolded disaster came about because he forsook wisdom for folly, righteousness for power. The kingdom experienced a divorce a magnitude never before was seen. God hates divorce and He hated that His beloved kingdom would suffer over a foolish decision.

Rehoboam might have avoided this had he sought the counsel of God as his grandfather David had done. The disasters in our life such as separation and divorce come about when we listen to the voices of the Tempter; it would be easier if…(you fill in the blank).

But, what if we seek the counsel of God instead? God is not a man that changes his mind. He is ever and always wise and discerning to counsel us aright and the Holy Spirit as part of the triune God would never contradict God’s Word.

The wisest and most blessed man/woman is the one who listens to the voice of the Spirit speaking the words of God. But also, you cannot hear the voice of the Spirit unless you are Spirit-filled.

Have you experienced the indwelling Spirit of God?

 

Posted on

I am Tamar; Hear My Voice!

2 Sam 13 As we read this tragedy we are confronted with the sin of David being replicated in his firstborn son Amnon but more so is the innocence of his daughter Tamar. How many of our daughters have had to face similar circumstances and only hear the silence of those who should stand up and call sin sin. How many have heard their brothers say “be quiet; don’t take it so seriously.” We want to scream, cry and join our hearts with Tamar whose virginity was slain. We want to not let her voice go unnoticed as she cries out from the grave; learn from my naiveté and my trusting innocence when I should have seen and stopped the charade in its tracks. Girls take heed! 

2sam 13 protectiona

Tamar was raped plain and simple and she was silenced. Her voice cries out from the pages of scripture. Scripture says keep away from sexual immorality but our culture says it won’t happen to you. Scripture says possess your own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion but our culture says just be silent.  Tamar was caught in a catch 22 situation and her father was too naïve to think his only son would take sexual advantage of his sister. Fathers, listen and put hedges of protection around your daughters.

What can we learn from Tamar? Satan is diabolical and crafty and uses men like Jonadab and Amnon so we must be wise and discerning. Tamar is saying don’t be foolish; sin is about to happen. Tamar is crying out from the grave; listen to me; learn from me. No means no.

Tamar cries out: Fathers; put hedges of protection around your daughters; rebuke the sin and the sinner. Daughters, when you sense danger leave because Satan is more powerful than you are!

Posted on

Living in the War Zone

Eph renew your loveLiving in the war zone is tough and only the strong prevail for the enemy does not lay down his arms even after a defeat as we saw in the life of our Lord. “so when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.” [Luke 4] Perhaps this is why the author of Hebrews admonished the readers that “solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.” [Heb 5] The letter to the Ephesians reveals where their armor had a weak point.

Beloved the devil knows the right opportunity, the right method and more importantly which piece of armor is weak. There we must “stay alert” to his ways and be discerning. The Ephesians had started strong but the devil saw a weakness in their armor and it was this: They had lost their first love! They could quote the Bible; they attended the church but it was all dead orthodoxy because their love was waning. Jesus not only rebuked them but called them to repent. And then his scary pronouncement: if they do not return to their first love he will come and snuff out their light. Today the church is under attack and why it is vital that our love for Christ and the church is renewed daily. God has given us the Holy Spirit within us and the church around us. What part of the Ephesian letter applies to us? Are we checking our armor for weak points? Is our love being renewed daily?

Posted on

“Be Alert!”

ImageIn today’s cyberworld we are cautioned by veteran spies to be ever alert to the scams that come across in emails, texts etc. In the time of Jesus He warned his disciples to “be alert,” be observant, be on guard, be vigilant to their world around them because soon their quiet time where they could sit and ask questions of the Master would come to a screeching halt. All of life would then become a world in which they must be on guard against those who would claim to be He but in fact were false. Today we live in a world that moves at “warp speed” with our texts, twitter, facebook posts. Our phones rarely ring but they warble with the vibration of a new text message or a new twitter, or a new post on facebook. We have alerts to scams, alerts to a missing person, alert phone numbers, and alert signs abound! Thus Jesus’ warning to “be alert” comes at a precipitous moment. But, how does one remain at alert 100% of the time? Here are some helpful hints:

Be in the mode of prayer: Mar 14:38 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Be discerning: 1Pe 5:8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.

Begin your day rightly: Isa 50:4 He wakes me up every morning; he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do.

Why be alert? Rev 3:3 I will come like a thief, ITh 5:2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night.

Today, be ever watchful for the Lord’s return. He has given us the signs that we might be aware but only the Father knows the time. Thus to be alert is to be vigilant and prepared lest He come and we are not involved in the task He has left: the gospel must be preached to all nations.

 

Optimized by Optimole